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Date: April 13, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN	NEWSLINE
April 13, 2005

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN EMERGENCY DISASTER FUND	DISBURSES SIX GRANTS TOTALING

$232,500

April 13, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- Six  grants totaling $232,500 have
been given from the Church of the Brethren  General Board's
Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) for tsunami relief and work in  Sudan,
Arizona, Mexico, and China. Giving to the EDF in 2005 has  now
topped $1 million, totaling $1,036,024 as of today.

An allocation  of $150,000 continues Church of the Brethren support
of a Church World  Service appeal for work in southern Asia
following the tsunami Dec. 26. The  money will provide emergency
food, medical support, drinking water, and  shelter, along with
mental health interventions and income-generating  programs. Another
$30,000 will go to Service Ministries' tsunami relief  efforts. As
a result of this disaster, the program based at the  Brethren
Service Center in New Windsor, Md., has received 330,000 pounds  of
Gift of the Heart kits and over 327,000 pounds of aid. The funds
will  help cover additional staff and volunteer expenses needed for
this large  response effort. Including these two grants, to date the
EDF has given a  total of $360,000 toward tsunami relief.

An allocation of $25,000  supports an Action by Churches Together
International (ACT) appeal for	repatriation, relief, and
rehabilitation for displaced families returning to  southern Sudan.
The money will help with food production,  infrastructure
development in health and education, and social services  and
activities.

Another $10,000 supports an ACT appeal for relief work	in China
following snowstorms and accompanying avalanches, landslides,  and
mudslides. The grant will help distribute food and blankets  and
rebuild homes, schools, and irrigation canals for drinking  water
systems.

An allocation of $10,000 supports the work of  Companeros en
Ministerio after mudslides destroyed more than 150 homes  in
Tijuana, Mexico. The funds will help repair and rebuild homes and
build  retaining walls. The General Board's Emergency Response
program and  Companeros have had successful partnerships in
rebuilding homes damaged by a  variety of disasters, said Roy
Winter, director of Emergency  Response.

A grant of $7,500 supports No More Deaths, an  Arizona-based
multifaith coalition supplying food, water, and medical  assistance
to migrants crossing the Arizona desert. "Over the last six  years
more than 2,000 men, women, and children have died trying to  cross
the Mexican border into the United States. Most of these  deaths
occur in the brutal heat of the summer months," Winter	said.
"Recognizing the current militarized border enforcement strategy  is
a failed policy, No More Deaths determined an  around-the-clock,
nonviolent, humanitarian physical presence in the desert  was
needed." Central to the program are camps called "Arks of  the
Covenant," where volunteers keep water and shelter available  for
migrants.

The grant has the support of Brethren congregations in	Arizona.
"Prior to requesting this grant, the district executive of  Pacific
Southwest District and all of the Church of the  Brethren
congregations in Arizona were consulted," Winter said. "Each of  the
churches that responded supported a grant to No More Deaths." 

In  other news, the board's Disaster Response program and volunteers
who worked  on a rebuilding project in Poquoson, Va., were
recognized by the city council	in a resolution dated Dec. 13.
Poquoson was devastated by Hurricane Isabel on	Sept. 18, 2003. The
Brethren rebuilding project completed on March 18  repaired more
than 40 homes. "The Church of the Brethren Disaster  Response
Program volunteer teams immediately responded to the city's  needs,"
the resolution said. "Their dedication to the highest principles  of
service to humanity has earned respect, praise, and admiration of
the  citizens of this community."

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian  denomination committed to
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply,  and to living
out its faith in community. The denomination is based in  the
Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the  three
Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its 300th anniversary  in
2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United States	and
Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil,  the
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
# # #

For more  information contact:

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News  Services
Church of the Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin,	IL 60120
847-742-5100 ext.  260
cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org

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